


A Day for Memories

by Star_Going_Supernova



Series: human titans 'verse [1]
Category: Godzilla: King of The Monsters (2019)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Human!Mothra, Momthra, Monster-Human Friendship, Post-Canon, Post-Godzilla: King of The Monsters (2019)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 12:17:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21270926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_Going_Supernova/pseuds/Star_Going_Supernova
Summary: The one-year anniversary of Boston dredges up some past hurts for Maddie. Thank goodness for a particularly kind stranger.





	A Day for Memories

**Author's Note:**

> This story is for the anon who requested _Mothra being reborn as a human and interacting with Maddie_ on tumblr! I hope you like it, and thank you for the idea!

The first time Maddie met the strange woman was on the one-year anniversary of the battle of Boston. Of Ghidorah’s destruction. Of Mothra’s sacrifice. Of her mom’s death.

A lot had happened and a lot had been lost, and though it had all become easier to think about as the days and weeks passed, Maddie woke up that morning with a heavy heart. Those twelve months almost seemed like nothing at all.

She and her dad shared a quiet breakfast—no burnt bacon this time, and it brought a weak smile to her face to remember the last morning before everything went to hell—both trying and failing not to dwell on the past.

They knew better than to expect to be able to go about their normal routines, distracted as they were, so they each picked their favorite movie to watch together. A call came in just as they were finishing the second, and Maddie practically shoved her dad out the door, promising him that she’d be fine.

She wasn’t fine.

Only a few hours later, when a steady, dreary rain began to fall, Maddie found herself looking through old pictures. Some were from the years when she and her mom were alone, before the ORCA was finished. Others sparked fuzzy memories from a time in her life she could barely remember. They were the good days and the bad days, and Maddie laughed as much as she cried.

The silence in their off-base apartment got to be too much. Barely even aware of what she was doing, Maddie shoved her arms into a light jacket and her feet into her sneakers. She hurried down to the street and made it a full block before registering the rain.

She stood still in the middle of an empty sidewalk, wondering if she should go back. Even as she shivered, she shook her head and marched on.

A different silence surrounded her out there, one with distant signs of life, with reminders that she wasn’t alone and the world wasn’t ending. It wasn’t quite pouring, but Maddie was soaked after a few minutes of wandering through the city and into a small park. Predictably, she was the only one out and about.

Maddie sat down on a bench somewhat sheltered by a tree—though it wasn’t like she could get much wetter—and closed her eyes.

She listened to the rain. To the way it splattered slightly differently on the leaves above her than on the pavement below. To the occasional metal ting as a drop hit a distant trashcan just right. To the constant pitter-patter as it slowly formed puddles on the ground.

A fat, cold droplet fell onto her head. Another hit her cheek and slowly slid down the curve of her jaw. Her sneakers squished when she shifted her chilly feet.

The stray thought of how it had rained in Boston crossed her mind, but she didn’t let it linger. That had been a storm, unnatural and fierce. This was not.

A rhythmic series of quiet splashes made her open her eyes and glance in the footsteps’ direction. A woman strolled down the path towards her, a light blue umbrella held over her head. Maddie knew it was rude, but she couldn’t help but stare.

The woman was beautiful, and not just because of her pretty features. The smile on her face was one of such utter contentedness and gentle joy, it nearly made her glow. She moved gracefully, neither slow nor fast, but as if she had all the time in the world to get to where she was going.

Her hair was silvery-white, and even with the distance between them, Maddie could see its soft fluffiness where it fell around the woman’s shoulders. She must’ve dyed it, because she definitely didn’t look old enough to have gone such a beautiful gray naturally. It certainly suited her.

It took Maddie too long to realize the woman was watching her. She bit her lip and quickly looked down.

_Please don’t ask what I’m doing out in weather like this, please don’t ask where my parents are, please just leave me alone, _she thought, clenching her stiff fingers around the cuffs of her jacket.

The footsteps stopped beside her. Maddie peeked up as the woman sat down without hesitation on the wet bench. She held her umbrella between them, and the sound of rain striking the taut fabric joined nature’s melody.

The woman didn’t say anything at first, instead tilting her head back to let out a sigh as she smiled.

Maddie’s shoulders tensed slightly when the stranger finally spoke. “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” she asked. Her voice was quiet but strong. “A peaceful day.”

After a moment, Maddie slowly nodded. Peaceful was the right word for it, now that she was out of the apartment. She wondered if the woman would try to keep a conversation going.

As the minutes passed, Maddie began to relax again. Nothing about this strange lady screamed _danger, _and it didn’t look like she would try to make Maddie leave. She didn’t mind sharing the bench with such an agreeable companion.

The woman shifted, turning her head towards Maddie a little, and asked, “How are you today?”

The innocent familiarity caught her off guard just enough to make her answer without thinking. “I’m okay, I guess.”

Well, that was uncomfortably honest. She really didn’t know how she felt. It was some weird mixture of sadness and relief and longing and grief. But it wasn’t awful. The pressure around her heart had let up some.

“Ah,” the woman said, nodding as if she perfectly understood everything Maddie hadn’t said. “It is not your best day, or your worst.”

The corner of Maddie’s mouth ticked up. “Yeah.” It wasn’t even _close _to her worst.

She scuffed the bottoms of her sneakers against the ground, suddenly wanting to fill the silence but having no idea what to say. The woman began humming, and Maddie’s nerves settled. She leaned back, ignored the shivers starting to trace up her arms and shake into her spine, and _breathed_.

It was some time later that the woman gently laid her hand on Maddie’s arm. “You’ve been out in this rain far too long, my child.”

Maddie couldn’t remember the last time someone had used such a tone with her—one so full of kindness and caring, it nearly made her tear up. With her shivers uncontrollable by that point, she could only nod in agreement, teeth chattering.

Every kid had been warned time and again not to follow strangers, but Maddie knew what bad people looked like. She knew the set of their shoulders and the hardness of their eyes. This woman, whose eyes were soft and blue and crinkled at the corners with her uncontainable happiness, was of no threat to her.

When the woman stood and guided Maddie along with her out of the park, she followed without protest. She wrapped her arms around herself and clamped her jaw shut against its quiver.

“Mm.” The woman pressed her lips together. “That won’t do, now will it?”

She passed Maddie the umbrella, smoothly slid out of her jacket, and had it wrapped around Maddie’s shoulders before she could even think to protest. The coat was warm from the woman’s body heat, and there was a line of fluff around the edge of the hood and neck area that tickled against her skin.

The woman took her umbrella and smiled down at Maddie. “Much better,” she said.

Maddie tentatively smiled back before pulling the jacket’s front closed and tucking her nose against the fuzz. She followed after the kind stranger, who led her to a coffee shop only a street away from the park. There were a number of people inside, most with phones or books in hand, and the occasional laptop on their table.

Without quite knowing how the woman did it, Maddie felt like she’d barely blinked when she found herself seated near a little fireplace with a steaming mug of marshmallow-covered hot chocolate and a plate carrying a slice of cake in front of her.

Her bewilderment earned her a light laugh from her companion. Maddie slowly picked up the fork and began to eat as the woman, who held a cup of tea, watched.

She couldn’t help but think how her mom would have reacted if she could’ve seen her. Taking food from a complete stranger—in a public setting or not—after meeting her less than an hour earlier alone. The indignant _“Madison!” _she would have heard, accompanied by that particular pinch between her eyebrows that spoke of a dozen different reprimands.

It would have been a lot like how she’d said her name a year ago, during their argument before Maddie ran away to Fenway Park with the OCRA.

The painful return of thoughts about that day left her staring into the melting marshmallows.

“It’s a day for memories, is it not?”

Maddie looked up at the woman, wondering how much of what she felt was obvious in her face. How much could this stranger see?

“A day for memories,” the woman repeated. “And many of them bad.”

“You can say that again.” Maddie hesitated. There was something she’d been thinking about, something she didn’t think she was brave enough to ask her dad. It couldn’t hurt to ask someone who could be nothing but objective, right? “Do you… do you ever get angry at people who are dead? Like, people you personally knew?”

“Oh yes. There is even one who I admittedly wish harm upon, whenever he invades my thoughts. He would deserve it, though.” A mischievous little twinkle flashed through her eyes. “He was a truly evil creature.”

Maddie fiddled with the mug’s handle. “Do you ever think about forgiving him for what he did?”

The woman studied her for a moment before leaning forward. “He wanted nothing more than power, and the way he sought it wronged many. He was cruel without thought and for that, I will never forgive him.” She paused. “But there is a difference, my child, between hurts caused by people like him, and by someone who once had good intentions.”

Either Maddie was reading too much into her words, or this woman somehow knew who Maddie was talking about. Emma Russell’s role in the disaster a year ago never made it to the public, though. Could she somehow be connected to Monarch, and had recognized Maddie in the park?

Her companion continued before she could think much more about it. “The real question is whether you _want_ to forgive. Others may judge differently, but here, it is only your feelings that matter. And, of course, to be angry with someone is not the same as to stop loving someone.”

That really hit the nail on the head, though Maddie couldn’t deny that it was exactly what she needed to hear. There were still a lot of hurts tied up in the memory of her mother, and there hadn’t exactly been a chance to talk them out with her.

If she mentally forgave her mother right now, would it be without resentment or perceived obligation?

“No,” she whispered. “Soon, but… not yet.”

The woman nodded, no sign of judgment or disappointment on her face. They sat in comfortable silence until Maddie finished her treats, and then she was back to allowing herself to be guided out the door and down the street. The rain had stopped, and the warmth of the fireplace had helped dry Maddie’s soaked clothes, so the shivers didn’t make a reappearance.

Their conversation was much less serious as Maddie absently led the way back to her apartment. They exchanged stories of places they’d been, all around the world. She couldn’t quite contribute much to the tourist side of things, but the woman hardly seemed to mind.

When they reached the door to her building, Maddie frowned. She returned the woman’s coat and hesitated. She’d never even introduced herself, or asked for the stranger’s name. Should she just say goodbye? Thanks, have a good one? I’m not nearly as much of a mess as you probably think, sorry for putting you through all this trouble?

She turned to the woman, brow furrowed, to see that kind, patient smile once again directed at her. Impulse took over, influenced by how comfortable Maddie felt, and she stepped forward to wrap her arms around the woman. Barely a second later, she was enfolded in one of the best hugs she’d ever had in life. The woman rested her cheek against the top of Maddie’s head, her own arms warm and secure against Maddie’s back. It wasn’t some loose, quick squeeze and release—every moment, Maddie felt like the woman actually _wanted _to be hugging her.

They must’ve stood like that for almost a minute, before Maddie remembered that, regardless of the kindness this woman had shown her, they were still entirely strangers—and hugging strangers without warning was generally not polite.

She hastily pulled back, breaking the woman’s hold on her abruptly enough for the poor woman to blink down at her in surprise.

“Sorry,” Maddie quickly said. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything. I didn’t even think… I don’t even know who you are.”

The woman’s confusion melted away, leaving her eyes crinkled in amusement. She reached out, gently took one of Maddie’s hands in her own, and said, “You know who I am, my child.”

And Maddie looked into those joyful eyes, blue and bright and nearly glowing—and so familiar that her awe caught in the back of her throat. It made no sense, no sense at all, but then, that seemed to be par for the course regarding the Titans.

“Mothra,” she whispered into the space between them.

**Author's Note:**

> Is my thing with poor Maddie always going to be hot chocolate and talking about deep personal issues? Only time will tell. 
> 
> Here’s [my tumblr](https://star-going-supernova.tumblr.com/) if you have a story idea of your own!
> 
> If you liked it, I’d love it if let me know! And should I do more?


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